Halo  Flood Of Corruption
by FLAMELASHER
Summary: The year is 2561, and once again the Covenant is intent on destroying humanity, due to the lies of a prophet. It is up to the SPATAN-IVs to fend off the Covenant Horde, but soon they shall discover a much darker side to the war.
1. Chapter 1: Retrieving The Data Core

**AN: The Story should go fairly quickly for a while, as I have the first few chapters written. After that it will slow down.**

Chapter One: Retrieving the Data Core

The Hornet swooped down towards the ground, dodging in between trees at high speeds. But for the driver, a SPARTAN-IV, it was moving quite slow. A Banshee shot towards the human vehicle, but a rocket flew from the left of the Hornet's cockpit, blowing the Banshee to smithereens. One of the two Spartans hanging on gave the pilot as thumbs up as the Hornet touched down. The three Spartans disembarked and ran into the forest, following an arrow on their HUD. The one in the lead was tall, fast and carrying a shotgun, on which he had inscribed his name, Red. Behind him was a slightly shorter Spartan, Ivan. A rocket launcher was strapped to his back. At the vey back was Ron, who was holding a Symbosis Marksman Rifle. The Symbosis Marksman Rifle was a rifle developed by the UNSC and Sanghelli. It's long, smooth barrel fired bullets which were coated in plasma. This meant that the target would be extra vunrable to the bullet due to the plasma burns that came with it. Ron had added a heat proof silencer onto his, as well as a longer barrel and bigger clips. Illegal, but effective.

Suddenly, a tall, hairy Brute clad in decorative gold armour stormed through the bushes, raising a spiker rifle, a bladed gun named after it's projectiles. It fired seven times and two Spartans hit the dirt, deadly spikes whistling overhead. Ron lined up a shot and fired twice, hitting the Brute in the chest and making it's energy shields flicker slightly. Red darted forwards, leaping at the apish alien, but it lashed out with it's mighty left fist and sent him crashing into a tree. Ron fired again, this time sending the Brute's golden helmet flying into the undergrowth and revealing it's wolf-like, grey head. Ron paused for a few seconds, then blasted it in the shoulder, then again in the foot whilst dodging spiker rounds. Meanwhile, Ivan was doing nothing except watching from the side of the firefight.

"You're firing quick." mocked Ivan, leaning against a tree.

The brute roared, charging like an enraged bull. Suddenly, then was a loud bang accompanied by a flash of light and it dropped to it's knees, blood pouring from it's side. Then it fell to the forest floor, landing on a tree trunk. Red stood up, smoke rising from his shotgun.

"Oh yeah!" he said, smashing his boot into the corpse at his feet.

"Wow, you killed a Brute!" Ivan cheered sarcastically.

"Well, it's better than doing nothing." retaliated Red.

"Shut up!" Ron interupted, whilst walking forwards.

"Yes sir!" mocked Ivan as he followed.

After a while of walking, they saw a patrol of short, grey skinned, methane breathing, Grunts, led by another Brute. Ron laid down and readied his rifle. Red slamed an extra shell into his shotgun. Ivan raised his deadly rocket launcher. Red fired his shotgun whilst charging, blowing the triangular methane tank off a Grunt and sending it flying away on a stream of green gas as the Grunt died. A Ghost, a fast, t-shaped vehicle shot through the trees, but a rocket from Ivan's launcher stopped it in it's tracks. Ron fired, killing a Grunt just as it was about to launch an overcharge Plasma Pistol blast at him. Two more Symbosis Marksman Rifle shots finished off the Grunts in the patrol, and also sprayed luminous blue blood on the forest floor. The Brute fired a shot from his Fuel Rod Cannon at Ron, who quickly leapt to his feet and over the deadly green bolt of fuel. Red pumped three shotgun shells into the distracted Brute and cheered as it fell to the ground, with a little help from his heavily armored boot.

"Let's have a party to celebrate your kill!" joked Ivan.

"Loser..." muttered Red.

The three Spartans proceeded deeper into the forest until they saw their target. It was a data core, guarded by a pack of Brutes. Ivan fired off a rocket, which killed two unsuspecting Brutes. The rest snapped to attention, readying their weapons. Two vanished into thin air as they drew their launched a volley of shots as he ducked behind a large tree root. Red hurled a frag grenade, but a Brute had the same idea, and threw a spike grenade. The two grenades detonated as the hit each other in midair. Red cursed and ducked into cover, but the two Brute Stalkers appeared out of nowhere and started firing at him. Red pushed Ron to the side and kicked one of the Stalkers. The other Brutes opened fire, but a deployable shield burst into life on the Spartan's back. It quickly turned orange, but by then Red and the Stalker had disappered behind a large tree. Ron speedily drove the butt of his rifle into the other stealthy brute, following it up with a quick shot. Ivan sent a rocket roaring into the Brute pack, killing all but one of them in a large explosion. The survivor, a Chieftain in menacing black and red armour, grabbed the delicate Data Core and slid down a rough hill. Ivan quickly followed, activating the shield on his back to make the journey smoother. The other two Spartans did the same a few seconds later. The Brute reached the bottom of the hill and ran into the forest, his pursers hot on his tail. They eventually reached a cliif ledge. The Chieftain discarded the core and grabbed it's Gravity Hammer, stepping forward menacingly. Suddenly, someone rushed up to them and kicked them off the mossy cliff.

"That was easy." remarked a newly appeared SPARTAN-IV.

They were nearly as tall as Red, and held a Symbosis Assault Rifle, a faster firing, less accurate version of the Symbosis Marksman Rifle. Their dogtag identified them as Lucy, another member of the Spartan Team.

"What took you so long? " asked Red.

"Got pinned down near my drop pod." Lucy replied as she picked up the data core.

"They use pins in battle now?" joked Ivan: "They must be desperate!"

"You know what I mean!" snapped Lucy.

"Shut up." ordered Ron.

The Spartans started moving towards the pickup point, when they spotted a Wraith tank. It fired it's mortar-like cannon at Ivan, who dived to the side. Red charged it after asking for covering fire, then jumped onto it, barely managing not to fall off. He smashed his fist into it, but slipped and tumbled off. Ron fired a well places shot straight into the gunner's head before it could kill Red. Ivan fired two rockets, blowing the Wraith to smithereens. The pilot, an angry, blue armored Brute, dived out and hit his face hard on the dirty ground. Lucy quickly walked up to it and fired several shots into it's shielded back. It laid still, and the Spartans proceeded on. Suddenly, it leapt to it's feet and held it's combat knife to Ivan's head. Red flipped behind it, snapped it's arm and pushed it to the side as it howled in pain. Then Lucy fired a short burst of plasma-coated bullets at it, knocking it down. Then Ron stomped on it's face for good measure.

"Let's keep moving." suggested Red.

They reached the landing zone without any more combat. There was a green Pelican dropship waiting there, the troop bay doors wide open. The Spartans entered and it took off as they sat down.


	2. Chapter 2  Is anyone looking?

-Bottom of the Lowraise Cliffs, 2 Minutes earlier-

Defarus struggled to his feet, his back aching terribly. Jagged red and black bits of smashed armour lay on the ground beneath him, digging into his back. He had been guarding some Demon item, that he knew. Then the Demons ha attacked and... Suddenly, the Chieftain felt a wave of sadness and loss as he remembered his pack. The jokes Aelus always told, the thrill of hunting with Tralenus, the prayers Detrorous was always performing... The things Defarus had grown so used to had been snatched away in one firefight. His sorrow began to fade into anger. He would get his revenge, no matter what! He reached for his gravity hammer, but it was damaged beyond repair. Seven large fragments had been knocked off, and a large dent ran through the handle. Cursing, he drew his mostly undamaged Spiker Rifle and set off into the forest. After a while of walking, he spotted a human holding a Hunting Shotgun. He raised his Spiker and fired, the deadly spikes ripping through the unarmored human. His dying screams attracted more people, who came rushing through the forest, leaping over tree roots and raising their weapons.

The one leading them had green armour, a helmet and an Assault Rifle, showing that he was a Marine. The others were much like the dead one, but some had pistols instead of shotguns. Defarus snarled and fired, cutting down 2 of the 'Militamen', as the demons called them. The Marine fired, but his shots bounced off the Brute's shields. The only effect of his shots had been to make the Brute impale him with the blades on his spiker. He staggered back, red blood dripping onto the forest floor, and the Militamen ran. Or, they tried to. A wave of spiker shots stopped them in their tracks. Defarus ripped the empty clip from the gun, then slammed in a full one. A lone Spike sailed from his gun, finishing off the dying marine. Defarus stormed into the forest and didn't stop walking until he saw a human dropship. He ran at it, then leaped from the cliff ledge, hoping to avoid any Deja Vu. He managed to grip onto one of the troop bay doors, and ripped it off. He dived inside, only to be targeted by three demons. He grabbed one and threw it into the other two targeting him, sending them all out of the vehicle and into the forest below. The one who hadn't targeted him readied a detatched Machine Gun Turret; then fired. Defarus activated his invunrability, glad he hadn't used it earlier. The bullets pinged off of him and he grabbed the Demon, thrusting them into a door, which cracked. A scared human looked at him as he readied and fired his Spiker. They died, landing on the vehicle's controls. It spiraled out of control and crashed into a Phantom. Both dropships fell from the sky and into the ground, Human Drop Pods whistling down after it.

Defarus felt himself thrown onto the hard forest floor and his spiker flew from his clawed hand. The demon landed near him, and he readied himself to rip their skull open. Suddenly another Brute charged the demon, firing a Brute Shot. Unfortunatley for them, another Demon stood in the way and activated their armour lock. The shots bounced back and the Brute died. Defarus grabbed the Brute Shot a the demon's armour unlocked. They swung their shotgun at him and he staggered back. Before the demon could take the advantage, the Chieftain of the Brutes fired several shots, forcing the demon to duck under the explosive rounds. An overcharged Plasma Pistol shot just missed the demon. Defarus looked behind him to see several Grunts firing at the demon. Another demon flew in on a Jetpack, firing plasma coated bullets at the pathetic Grunts. Defarus recognised the demon well. They had kicked him off a cliff. Roaring, he sent an entire belt of Brute Shot grenades at them, blowing their Jetpack and Shields away. They fell to the floor, then quickly jumped up. They looked at Defarus, raising their rifle.

"I thought I killed him..." they muttered, before firing at him.

He dived into the bushes, landing in a forwards roll. The bullets slammed into the burning dropship as Defarus fired off another volley. The demon rolled underneath most of the shots, but one or two hit their recharging shields. They hurled a grenade at Defarus, who vaulted over a weapons crate to avoid the explosion. The crate was sent flying through the air, spilling Needlers all over the ground. Defarus slung the Brute Shot across his back, then grabbed a Needler. He and the demon fired at the same time, causing plasma, bullets and deadly crystals to fly through the forest air as the humans emerged from their drop , the demon's shields ran out and they ducked behind a tree. Defarus checked his HUD. He had only 31% of his shields left. The demon who had been unconscious and the one who had guarded him suddenly launched a sneak attack from behind, bullets and shotgun shells tearing throuh the Grunts. Just as they turned on Defarus, a rain of plasma from above damaged their shields. They looked up to see a handful of Jackals leaping from a Phantom. They both dived behind cover and assesed the new threat quickly. Defarus grabbed a Plasma Grenade from a dead Grunt and hurled it at the tree trunk, but a burst of shotgun fire sent it flying away towards a Jackal.

Defarus ducked back into cover, puzzeled. There had been 4 demons, yet only 3 were present. Maybe one had been killed when he hurled them out of the vehicle? The one who had killed his pack? No, they were using a heavy machine gun, and he would be able to tear them apart. It must have been the marksman... He spun round and shot an 'imp' trying to sneak up on him. What did the demons call them... ODST or somehing. Two ODST opened fire on him at once, and he ducked, gunning down one of them. Imps? Ha! More like ants! The other adjusted his aim, and bullets pinged of Defarus' shields and the Brute retailated with a single Needle. He snarled and charged, whacking the imp with his free hand, then with the heavy needler. He slammed more needles into the gun, then looked around for more imps. A nearby explosion made Defarus' shields tremble, and he raised his spiker, firing at the demon who had been hiding behind a tree. The shots were well placed, but the demon sidesteppped a few of them and returned fire, gun pressed against their shoulder to ensure accuracy. The bullets and plasma slammed into the chieftain, depleting his shields, but the gun didn't stop firing.


End file.
